Story from Elsie Burton’s Diary
All through this time our social life was centered in our church. We went to church services and Sunday School classes more or less regularly. It was not as regularly as I would have wished for I loved it but we were considered one of the regulars. It was a large enough church that each Sunday school class was divided into the boys classes and the girls classes for each grade until we got into Junior High. There were at least 10 to 18 students in each class. I certainly enjoyed that arrangement. It was a relief to be in a group without the tussling boys.
As I recall there was a great deal of reading from the Bible and this in the King James version which was the only one in use at that time. Reading being a problem to begin with and then King James on top of that, it was pretty harry but I loved it.
I particularly remember Junior Church sponsored by the Bronsons. One attended until one started 9th grade in Junior High. That was the graduating point into the regular congregation. We had our opening exercises which consisted of hymns from the old old hymnals with songs we all more or less knew. This was followed by a session of remembering Bible verses, solos, duets, trios, quartets, etc. by the students. Then a special guest who would usually tell a Bible story in a new and exciting way by bringing out the moral message so clearly that the youngest there could understand and apply it. We ended with a prayer and a collection.
There were also Sunday evening gatherings but we didn’t attend those very often unless we had stayed in town all day for some reason. We would stay if we were invited for dinner at the Bronsons or Leedoms or had been on a picnic.There were two Sunday morning Sunday school classes for adults because there were too many people attending to fit into any one room in the church. From that number there were always a group going somewhere for a picnic on nice weather Sundays. If I happened to stay overnight with the Bronsons on a Wednesday, I got to go to Wednesday Night Prayer meeting.
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